The Iowa Democratic Party will hold in-person caucuses on the same day as Republicans on Jan. 15, but they will wait until early March to release the mail-in results of their presidential preferences.
The rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee signed off on the plan at a meeting on Friday in St. Louis, ending the years-long fight that followed the meltdown of the 2020 caucuses.
The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee found the IDP’s plan to allow Iowans to mail-in their presidential preference in compliance with their new primary calendar. The DNC voted this year to remove Iowa entirely from the early window and place South Carolina in the leadoff spot: followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on the same day, then Georgia and Michigan.
Iowa Democrats will use their 2024 precinct caucuses as venues to hold party business but will no longer require Iowans to show up to express their presidential preference. That portion of the Democrats' caucuses will now be done entirely via mail.
Iowa Democrats can request a presidential preference card beginning Nov. 1.
Under the plan, Iowans can request a preference card until Feb. 19 and return it through the mail until March 5 — Super Tuesday — when the results will be announced.
President Joe Biden faces no major primary challenge at the moment and has indicated he wants the calendar process to be revisited every four years. Party leaders with the Iowa Democrats plan to fight for an early spot in the next presidential year.
“We’re pleased that we’ve gotten these reassurances from the DNC that the process will be open for 2028 when the process really matters,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told reporters at a virtual press conference on Friday morning. “We’re concentrated on re-electing President Biden and getting more Democrats elected across the state.”
Hart said Democrats “are definitely following the letter of the law” when it comes to an Iowa law that says Republicans and Democrats must hold the first caucus in the country. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws committee voted Friday to move Iowa into conditional compliance with the new party rules. A full vote comes after final logistical details have been worked out.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire's Secretary of State tells The Des Moines Register, the move is a "positive development."
Iowa Republicans will hold caucuses the way they have for the last half-century, with precincts across the state holding straw polls.
“While there have been different tactics deployed this year – including the complicity and incompetence of the Iowa Democratic Party – the Republican Party of Iowa and the Republican National Committee will continue to steadfastly defend our half-century-old carveout system,” Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.
